


Tales of Himawari Uzumaki: Learning medical ninjutsu

by ladybirdwrites



Series: Tales of Himawari Uzumaki [1]
Category: Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, Naruto
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:08:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25654174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladybirdwrites/pseuds/ladybirdwrites
Summary: As Himawari is feeling stuck in her training, she enlists the help of Sarada Uchiha and Sakura Haruno in order to learn medical ninjutstu. In the process, she learns about herself and Sakura's struggles of the past.
Relationships: Uzumaki Himawari & Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki Himawari&Uchiha Sarada
Series: Tales of Himawari Uzumaki [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1863172
Kudos: 5





	Tales of Himawari Uzumaki: Learning medical ninjutsu

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, you guys, I really hope you'll enjoy this story! No romance or anything, just three female characters getting the development I think they deserve. Enjoy!

The tales of Himawari Uzumaki: Learning medical ninjutsu

Himawari looked at her father. It had been two days since she, alongside Sasuke, Shikamaru, Sarada, Sakura and Shikadai went into a forgotten dimension to rescue her father, who was at the brink of dying. They had arrived just in time to save him. Naruto had used up all of his own chakra saving the villagers of a certain dead and he had burned through most of Kurama’s chakra in the same process. Kurama had just enough chakra left to keep the two of them alive. Had they arrived even an hour later, Naruto would have died.

Sakura had been by her father’s side ever since they returned to the village, slowly pumping all of her own chakra into her father’s body, in a desperate attempt to safe his life, only leaving him to take a quick nap every now and then. Sasuke hadn’t left his best friends side either, watching over his wife and best friend from his own hospital bed, which he insisted was not only in the same room as Naruto’s, but also right next to him. She could see that it annoyed Sakura to a great extent, but she never said a word about it, knowing how much being by Naruto’s side meant to Sasuke.

Just like Sasuke felt like he had failed Naruto, so did Himawari. Even though everyone praised her for her involvement in the mission, as it was thanks to her and her Byakugan that they were able to find Naruto, as Sasuke couldn’t pick up his chakra trace once he and Kurama had almost run out of it, she still felt like there wasn’t much she did during the actual fighting. There were ninja guarding her father, but she was only able to defeat them with the help of Shikadai and Shikamaru, who restrained the enemy while she took them out. She didn’t have any long range jutstu, nor was her speed that remarkable. She just had her Byakugan and the Hyuga clan’s techniques.

Himawari activated her Byakugan. Kurama was still asleep, a clear indication that his chakra hadn’t replenished yet and even though her father’s chakra levels were looking better, he was not in the safe zone yet.

“Are you still here, Hima-chan?” a soft voice said near her ear. She turned around to look in the eyes of Sarada Uchiha, one of the most skilled ninja in the village and the only one capable of surpassing Sakura. She pulled up one eyebrow, looking at Himawari with a questioning look.

Himawari sighed. “Yeah..” she said, looking once again at Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto. “I just feel so useless right now. I want to do something. I want to safe my father, but all I have are my Byakugan and my taijutsu. I just wish I could do more.”

“Yeah, I understand what you’re feeling. Being on the same team as your brother has made me feel like that many times as well. Even though I’m far from weak, I always felt I was the one bringing the least to the team. So when I had the chance to learn something I knew Boruto would never be able to learn, I jumped at the chance.”

Himawari looked at Sarada with new found interest. She didn’t quite understand what Sarada meant, as she was invaluable for her brother’s team in more ways than one, always being the one most resistant to genjutsu, alongside her having her Sharingan and being the most levelheaded of the bunch.

Anticipating Himawari’s thought process, Sarada continued explaining: “I know I’m far from weak, I have my Sharingan and it’s something neither your brother nor Mitsuki have, but I still felt like I was looking at their backs the entire time. And you know, I just realized I wanted to be the one walking in the front, with them looking at my backs.” Sarada smiled. Himawari still was a bit unsure what Sarada was steering towards, but the girl did manage to make her feel better. “You’re only fourteen, Hima, you still have all the time in the world left to become the best version of yourself possible.” And with that final bit of wisdom, Sarada left her again.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
As she was walking home from the hospital, for the first time in those two days since they had returned from their mission, Himawari was thinking over the conversation she shared with Sarada. Why did she feel like that. Why did she herself feel like that. She knew she did nothing wrong, but it still didn’t feel right. But most importantly, what did Sarada do to overcome that feeling.

Lost in her thought, Himawari arrived home sooner than she expected. “I’m home” she yelled, still feeling confused.

“Himawari? Is that you?” Her mother’s soft voice came from the kitchen and mere seconds later her face popped out of the doorframe. Hinata’s eyes grew wide as she threw herself on her daughter, nearly suffocating Himawari in a hug. 

“There you are! I was so worried! Boruto too! And even Shikadai… He came to check up on you. Where were you.”

Himawari blinked her eyes, not knowing how to answer the many question her mother had. “I’m sorry” she eventually said, as she felt it was inappropriate to remain quiet.

Her mother hugged her again and then kept her at a short distance, studying her daughter trying to figure out what had happened to her once oh so cheerful daughter. “What’s wrong, Hima?” Hinata eventually asked softly.

Himawari started to cry. All of the feelings she had been holding back for so many days came flowing out all at once. The anger, the doubt, the confusion and most importantly, the fear. She didn’t know what to do anymore. Hinata let her cry, hugging her and waiting for Himawari to she calme down until she was ready to speak.

“I just felt so useless, mom.. Like there was nothing I could do…”

“But, Hima, that’s not true. Everyone who went on that mission is saying the same thing about you. You were the reason they were even able to find your father. You were the reason that mission was successful. I mean, even Sasuke said that and you know how hard he is to impress.”

A small smile escaped Himawari’s lips. That was true, impressing Sasuke was one thing her brother had always struggled with. “Even so, I couldn’t do much during the actual battle. Not without the help of Shikadai and Shikamaru.”

“Well… It is true that taijutsu has the huge disadvantage that you need to come close to your opponent for it and sometimes that is difficult” her mother said with a soft voice. “But that is the reason we train, Himawari. By training, we become better at hiding our flaws and increase our strengths. You know that there are still so many possibilities for our taijutsu. I mean, both me and your uncle came up with brand new techniques. If even I, who was considered to be the failure of the Hyuga clan, was able to do that, than why wouldn’t you? Cause unlike me, Himawari… You are not a failure.”

Himawari’s eyes grew wide. She never knew her mother had struggled this much in the past. For all she knew, her grandfather adored her mother, who had always been as strong as she is today. But Hinata’s speech did not miss effect. Himawari became determined to work on herself. And she knew exactly how she would do it.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Standing at the door, Himawari almost turned back, being overcome with a wave of doubt. Before she could make a decision, however, Sarada opened the door, just about to leave the house to bring some food to her parents in the hospital. Startled by the sight of the young Uzumaki, the two girls remained quiet for a moment.

“Himawari? Is something wrong?” Sarada eventually asked, breaking the awkward silence the two girls had been participating in.

“Oh… No… I was just thinking over our conversation we had in the morning and well…”

“Well?”

“I wanted to ask you a favor.” Himawari closed her eyes, mentally preparing for a no from the Uchiha-girl. 

“Okay, shoot” Sarada said confidently, looking at Himawari with curiosity. Himawari took a deep breath, gathering all of her courage.

“Do you think you could teach me medical ninjutsu, Sarada-chan? I don’t want to feel useless anymore and I want to become stronger. I just think that learning medical ninjutsu is the way to go, definitely in the beginning. I mean, even if I’m working on other techniques, or when we get trapped again in a battle with an opponent my jutsu doesn’t work on very well, because you know he or she is hard to reach, at least I could help my teammates by healing any damage they get while fighting, right?”

A smile grew wider and wider on Sarada’s face as she listened to the young Uzumaki’s rambling. Himawari was quite shocked when she saw Sarada’s expression, while taking a breather from her rambling.

“Of course I’ll teach you” Sarada said with new-found excitement. “But be prepared… I won’t go soft on you just because I happen to like you. I hope you know what you’re getting yourself into.” Sarada smiled and Himawari swallowed away her nerves. “We’ll start tomorrow morning at the brick of dawn. On training field number three.” Sarada held up three fingers, while looking at Himawari with a bit of a devilish smile. “Does that work for you, Hima?” Himawari just nodded. She had a feeling that she didn’t know what she had just gotten herself into, but the idea of finally beginning to train seriously and broadening her skillset, brought, for the first time in weeks, a smile on her face, as she watched Sarada walk towards the hospital.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Himawari was early. She had barely slept the night before because of the excitement and anticipation of training. Sarada on the other hand was late.

Himawari was waiting for nearly an hour before Sarada finally arrived.

“I’m sorry to keep you waiting Himawari. My mother suddenly needed something from home so I first had to look for it, which almost took an hour, and then rush it towards the hospital.” Sarada rolled her eyes. She was almost as annoyed with herself as Himawari was with her.

“So… Let’s begin, shall we?” Himawari nodded in agreement.

“As you might already know, attacking is never the first priority of a medical nin. But do you know what is, Hima-chan?”

A lecture and a quiz was not what Himawari was expecting from her training. “The first duty of a medical nin is not to get injured so he or she can fulfill his or her duty to heal the other shinobi.”

“That is partially correct.” Sarada said, while Himawari pulled up her eyebrows in surprise. “The first duty of a medical nin is indeed not to get injured so he or she can heal the other shinobi, but that’s only part of the job. How do you not get injured in battle?”

“You don’t participate?” Himawari tried, knowing the answer would be wrong. Sarada burst out laughing. “I mean, you’re not wrong and shinobi trained exclusively as medical nin will indeed not participate in battle, as they would just die, but you, just like me and my mom, are a shinobi, so sitting out on a battle is not exactly an option. Want to try again?”

Himawari thought for a second. The answer was at the tip of her tongue, so obvious that she couldn’t figure out the answer.

“I’ll tell you… The first duty of a medical nin, is to learn how to dodge all attacks thrown at her.”

Himawari did not expect this. Learn how to dodge all attacks thrown at her… What did Sarada mean by that?

“Shall I give you a demonstration, Himawari?” Sarada smiled in anticipation at a shiver ran down Himawari’s spine. Sarada was looking forward to this moment.

“Alright, rookie, be prepared for anything. I will not hold back. Additionally, you can not attack me unless you’re a hundred percent sure you will hit me, as you, a medical nin, need to preserve as much chakra as you possibly can. Not that it’s very likely that you’ll ever get in real trouble with the amount of chakra you have, but it’s still a good exercise.”

Himawari prepared herself, as well as Sarada. Than, in a flash, Sarada disappeared. In the next moment, Shuriken were thrown at her from all directions. Himawari quickly took out a kunai knife from her pocket, deflecting most of kunai and swiftly dodging the remaining ones. Sarada appeared right in front of her. Himawari barely had time to react and was only narrowly able to dodge Sarada’s devastating punch. She was fast and Himawari had no way of keeping up with her like this. She distances herself from the battlefield, taking position in a thick bush of leaves, activating her Byakugan. While still struggling to keep up with Sarada’s insane speed, her Byakugan gave her the slight advantage of seeing the Uchiha moments before her attack, managing to dodge the numerous attacks with a little more ease. Sarada, seaming to notice the change in Himawari’s fighting style also changed her strategy, stepping over from physical blows, to several of her long-range jutsu form her arsenal of fire style jutsu. Himawari was getting fatigued rapidly. Normally she would charge at her opponent head on and hope she could get close enough for the eight trigrams. However due to the nature of Sarada’s exercise, this option was out of the question. She only had one chance to take out the Uchiha girl. So all Himawari had to do was lure out her opponent. As Himawari kept dodging all of Sarada’s attacks, she contemplated on how to do that. How would her father do that? Or her mother? Or her brother? She knew the answers. Both her father and her brother would use the shadow clone as a diversion, attack with a devastating blow from the Rasengan. Her mother would use her clan’s jutsu. So all she had to do, was combine the two, right. Himawari carefully hid her thought process from Sarada. An opponent should never know if and when you’ve come up with a plan. So Himawari put in into action.

“Shadow clone jutsu!” Five of her clones appeared and spread out in different directions. She deactivated her Byakugan. Even after years of training, Himawari hadn’t found a way to use her Byakugan alongside her clones without giving away the real her or getting an immense headache. She only used the Byakugan on a clone when she wanted her opponent to think the clone was her real body. Sarada seemed surprised at the development in the battle. That short moment of confusion was the only thing Himawari needed. One of her clones activated the Byakugan and Sarada smiled, thinking she had found Himawari’s actual body.

“You’re a fool if you think a cheap trick like that can fool me! You just gave up your actual location, you idiot.”

Sarada closed in on her clone to finish her up. She took her knife and slashed the imposter-Himawari. The clone disappeared and Himawari popped out of the smoke of her disappearing clone in an instant.

“Gentle fist!” Himawari yelled, while catapulting away Sarada. She deactivated her Byakugan, content with her win, looking at the smoke from the impact sight slowly disappearing. When the smoke was gone, Himawari didn’t see Sarada, instead, there was only a log. A substitution. Before Himawari could react to this revelation, a cold blade was put on her neck and she knew she had lost.

“That was good, Himawari, some would even say brilliant. However… You should never have let your guard down. A battle isn’t over until every enemy is conformed either captured or dead. If this was a real battle and I was a real opponent, you could have been seriously injured or worse.”

Himawari sighed in disappointment and Sarada released the pressure from her knife against Himawari’s throat. She was so close, but she still lost. And only because of her own stupidity. 

“Heads up, Himawari. Your strategy was good. I didn’t expect you to use shadow clones as a diversion and then combine that with your gentle fist. It was a phenomenal idea. Does is need work? Absolutely! But the foundation is there and we can work with that. That’s a start many people don’t get to have. You have talent.”

Sarada walked towards her bag, which she had dropped near a tree. She took three insanely large books out of the backpack and gave them to Himawari. 

“I want you to read these books, the top one first. These books contain everything you need to know about medical ninjutsu. We’ll do training like today once a week, on the same day and at the same hour and when my mom is free, I’ll ask her for some practicing scrolls, so you can actually practice your medical ninjutsu. Until then, I’m afraid you’ll have to do it with these books… Until next week! Unless I see you before that of course.” The Uchiha gave her one last smile before disappearing into the late morning.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
For the next few weeks, Himawari studied every free moment she had, juggling her time between going on her missions, visiting her father, training with her mother and training with Sarada. After four days of constant healing, Naruto had finally woken up from his coma and Kurama was also showing signs of life again. Sarada still hadn’t been able to ask Sakura about the scrolls, as she was still busy with her work and keeping an eager Naruto in check and Sarada had been sent on a fair amount of missions herself. Sasuke, in the meantime, had left the village once more, to make sure the enemy was annihilated. The village was short on forces, so Himawari, who was a chunin, usually had to go on her missions on her own. It was late and Himawari was expected for another training session with Sarada early the next morning. She closed the book she was reading. She was almost finished with the first. Although the material was heavy and difficult to read, Himawari found herself enjoying every second of it. She found medical ninjutsu and its history to be very interesting and it kept her motivated to continue her training. She heard a soft knock on her door at her brother peeped around the corner.

“Can I… come in?” Her brother asked her, unsure. She signaled for him to come in a patted on a spot next to her on the bed, inviting him to sit.

“So… Sarada told me she’s been helping you with some training. How’s it going? Are you two getting along? And what exactly is she teaching you?” Boruto asked, not being able to hide his curiosity and excitement for his little sister.

Himawari chuckled. “She’s been teaching me medical ninjutsu. She gave me those books” Himawari said while pointing at the stack of books she got from Sarada. Boruto pulled a disgusted face by the look of the books. He never liked reading anyways. “We’ve been training together as well. She’s a versatile shinobi and I will need to be able to fight any opponent without wasting my chakra or getting seriously injured, so Sarada is the perfect opponent. And yes, we get along… I actually enjoy my training time with her quite a lot. We’ve scheduled a meeting and training session tomorrow morning.”

“Oh really? At what time?”

“At the brick of dawn. We always take that time. It’s not to hot outside yet and usually there are no people training at that hour.” Himawari grinned and she reminded Boruto of their father. They both had inherited his smile.

“Well, I’m going to visit dad in the hospital. Want to come with?”

“Nah, I’m good. I visited him when I returned from my mission and besides… I need to get up very early tomorrow, you know.”

Boruto got up and walked towards the door, wishing his little sister a good night.

“Beat Sarada’s ass for me, okay?” He said right before closing the door.

Himawari smiled. “Deal”.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
When Himawari arrived at the training field the next morning, Sarada was already present and she wasn’t alone. Sarada, who was sitting against a tree, was talking to her mother, Sakura. Himawari was surprised to see Sakura as well, as she had understood that the head of the hospital was very busy taking care of all of the injured people from the recent events with Kawaki. The two kunoichi stopped talking as Himawari approached them.

“Good morning, Himawari” Sakura said with a motherly smile. “Sarada told me about her training you in the art of medical ninjutsu. I’m glad to help you in any way I can, if needed. I’ve brought all of the utensils, as well as a key to the hospitals library. The books Sarada gave you contain most of the information you need, but should you struggle with an aspect of medical ninjutsu, you can go there and look up some more information. My office is there as well, so there is a good chance you’ll see me there.” Sakura handed over the bag, which was completely filled with scrolls. These were probably the scrolls Sarada was talking about, that would help her go through the different stages of her training.

“So, Sakura-sensei, am I fighting with you as well today?” Himawari asked. Sakura shook her head. “Not today, I’m afraid. Today I’ve just come to tell the two of you why I decided to become a medical nin.”

Sakura sat herself down on the grass, patting the ground in front of her with both of her hands, indicating that she wanted the two young girls to sit down. Himawari looked at Sarada from the corner of her eye, seeing the same amount of confusion on Sarada’s face as there was on her own. Apparently Sakura never told Sarada the full story of why she became a medical nin.

“When I became a genin, an frankly even before that, I wasn’t really thinking about my own personal strength or what I could contribute to my team.” Sakura looked at the two girls, holding their gazes for a few moments. “I was always more concerned with how I looked. You see… I had a pretty big crush on a guy in my class and instead of working on myself first, I kind of grew an obsession. I always tried to impress him, to show him how pretty I was and whatever. But he never reciprocated. Instead, he always showed way more interest in his teammate, because his teammate challenged him to a great extent. Many times I had my butt saved by my teammates. I was always looking at their backs. And when they got injured and I had to fend for myself, I struggled. I just didn’t have the skills to do it on my own.” Sarada and Himawari looked with quiet amazement at Sakura as they listened to the struggles the young Sakura went through before become the person she is today. “It wasn’t until my teammate, who happened to be the guy I had a crush on, left the village in a desperate search for power. I couldn’t stop him. Even Naruto couldn’t stop him. I felt so… Useless. I put a burden on Naruto… I asked him to bring Sasuke back. I didn’t even care to acknowledge the pain this promise was causing Naruto at the time. I just wanted Sasuke back.” Himawari eyes grew wide. She never knew that Sasuke had left the village. She knew there was a history between the three of them at that the bond her father shared with Sasuke was unbreakable, but she never knew Sasuke leaving the village was the reason for that. Sakura’s soft voice snapped her out of her thought process: “But when Naruto came back from a failed attempt to bring Sasuke back to the village, gravely injured, I realized I was wrong and I became determined to never look at the backs of my teammates ever again. I was determined to become a leading lady. Even though Naruto never let go of his promise to me… That day, seeing Naruto in that hospital bed, was the turning point for me. I went up to lady Tsunade, who was the fifth Hokage at the time and asked to become her apprentice. I went through three years of gruesome training under her, but it made me become the person I am today. Frankly, being away from both Naruto and Sasuke was exactly what I needed. I finally had the time to work on myself, to ensure that I not only grew as a ninja, but also as a person. That was the day I decided to fight for me first and everyone else after. Now, as you know, all worked out in the end for me. I even got the guy I wanted from the very beginning. But he only started seeing me in a different light when I stopped chasing after him and started doing things for me, instead of for me to impress him, if you get what I mean?” Sakura smiled, finishing her story.

Sarada and Himawari were both quiet. They didn’t know how to react to the story the strongest Kunoichi alive just told them. Sakura picked up on that, because she moved in with a word of advise for the girls: “What I am trying to say is that the only person in life you have to impress, is yourself. Once you love yourself to the fullest extent possible, you can open your hart to receive love from somebody else. I’m just trying to prevent you girls from making the same mistakes I made when I was your age. You’ll always get the outcome you were destined to have, but perhaps you get it in a different way than you imagined when you were younger.”

“Mom… I never knew you struggled so much when you were younger. You and dad always seem to be so happy… I never would have imagined that he wasn’t interested at first.” Sakura chuckled at that comment, acknowledging what had happened in the past and what it had led to today.

“Hima?” Himawari looked up at the mention of her name, meeting the green gaze of Sakura. “You don’t have to be like your brother to be equally as strong. You won’t be able to do all the things he can, just like he won’t be able to do all the things you can. By example, you beat his ass every time in a taijutsu matchup, just like he beats you ass when you're fighting a longe range battle. You’ll find your very own fighting style eventually, I have no doubts.”

Himawari didn’t know how Sakura knew so well what to say, but her words were exactly what the young Uzumaki needed to hear in this very moment. Sakura’s story, alongside her words of advice and encouragement had given Himawari new hope and filled her with newfound excitement to learn and to become the best shinobi she possibly could be. Just like Sakura became the shinobi she never thought she could be.

“Now, girls, I still have some time left before I need to return to the hospital. How about I help you with your healing, Hima? Sarada told me you already know the basics, so I’ll teach the two of you something way more complicated… You might need this skill in the future.”

Sarada and Himawari nodded enthusiastically, and the master, who once was a student herself, taught them everything about poisons.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
After a gruesome day of training, first with Sakura, next with Sarada, Himawari was walking home as the sun was setting. She didn’t notice the boy gazing the clouds until he spoke: “Himawari, I finally found you!” Startled by the sound of Shikadai’s voice, Himawari quickly turned around to face him.

“Found me, eh?” She said sarcastically, seeing the boy laying down and looking at the clouds.

Shikadai got up from his position, a small smile escaping his lips after hearing the remark Himawari made. She was not wrong. Shikadai had stopped looking for the girl after noon.

“Anyways, Shikadai, what is it you need?” Hima asked with curiosity.

“Me? Nothing. But Lord Seventh wants to see you as soon as possible and considering it took me an entire day to find you, I suggest you go see him now.” Shikadai answered.

Himawari was confused. Why would her father want to see her. And why in his office, instead of at home. “Do you know what he wants?”

“I have my suspicions, but I’m not sure. Anyways, even if I knew what he wanted to tell you, it still wouldn’t be my place. Do you want me to join you? My father is probably helping Lord Seventh anyways and mom wants to have dinner with everyone present tonight. I do not want to face her wrath. And Lord Seventh has asked me to come with once I had found you anyways.”

Himawari chuckled at that comment. Temari could be a bit intimidating once she got mad and she understood that Shikadai didn’t want to upset her. Himawari nudged with her head as a sign that Shikadai could join her and the two of them started walking towards her father’s office.

Himawari and Shikadai patiently waited at the signal to come in after knocking on the door. She was just contemplating on knocking a second time when Shikamaru opened the door for them. By the sight of Himawari and Shikadai, his face lit up.

“Hima, Shikadai! Just the two people we needed! Come in!” Shikamaru made a wide movement with his arm, indicating that they were welcome to come in. Her father, buried in paperwork after his rather long absence, looked up from his desk. A couple of his clones were going through some of the less important documents.

“Himawari, Shikadai, the two of you must wonder why I called you in today. Well… It’s nothing serious. I just wanted to tell the two of you as soon as possible that you have been promoted to the rank of Jounin, after your exquisite work during my rescue mission. All parties involved agree on this decision. I’m so proud of the two of you!” Naruto and Shikamaru were absolutely glowing. The expression on Shikadai’s face matched her own, surprised by being moved up a rank. Sarada, as well as Boruto were moved up a rank by Kakashi, who had filled in for Naruto while he was still recovering. Neither of them thought they would be promoted after this much time.

Naruto, sensing the surprise from the both of them, started explaining: “As one of the biggest reason my rescue mission was even a success, was the teamwork between the two of you, I insisted on promoting you together, so I could congratulate you on figure out a way of working together within seconds, without having prior knowledge of each other’s level of skill. Being able to do that as a shinobi, is an exceptionally rare skill and very handy in battle, as it makes you much more versatile in battle. So… Keep up the good work, you two.”

By becoming a jounin, Himawari was now two ranks above her teammates, who didn’t feel ready to participate in the chunin exams with her yet, after their epic failure just a year before. So Himawari had joined Shikadai’s team, which resulted in all three of them becoming chunin. Her teammates, while envious, were happy for her, but it meant she couldn’t join them very often on mission anymore, especially not after the situation with Kawaki. Now that she was a jounin, she would go on even less mission with her teammates and she was surprised to notice that it filled her with sadness. Her team was the one motivating her to continue through her training, even when she felt like giving up and she had many fond memories of them. She would miss them. Shikamaru and Shikadai had left in the meantime and her father was sending her a questioning look, wondering why she was still in his office.

“Let’s go home, dad… Mom will be happy to have the four of us at home together for once.” Her father nodded in silent agreement, leaving behind his clones to continue working, as he joined his newly promoted daughter home.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Himawari struggled. She had been trying to perfect her medical ninjutsu for the past few month, but she felt like she had reached an impasse. Being send on as many mission as she was being send on, didn’t really help on further developing her skill. It just helped her in excelling in the healing of minor wounds. She cursed in frustration. She kept flopping in making the antidote for a common poison. If she couldn’t even do this, than how would she ever be able to save someone from a much more complex poison? At least her physical training was going as planned. She was getting more and more skilled in the use of her Byakugan with her clones, something she asked her mother, aunt and grandfather to help her with, and her speed was going up. It was much more difficult for Sarada to be able to hit her and Himawari often found an opening in Sarada’s defenses before the Uchiha could do any serious damage.

Himawari slammed down the book. She wasn’t getting it with the information she had available. She needed to do more research. She decided that she would visit the hospital’s library, pick out a book that could help her and get out of there as fast as she could. For some reason, she didn’t want either Sakura or Sarada to know how much she was struggling right now. Himawari grabbed a backpack from the hallway, shoved the book in it, leaving the house in a hurry. Not that anyone was home anyways. She ran towards the hospital, taking out the key Sakura had given her month’s prior. When she arrived, she realized she didn’t have a clue where she had to go.

“Um… Excuse me? Could you tell me where to find the library?” Himawari asked shyly.

The nurse at the desk threw her a questioning look. “Visitors aren’t allowed in the library” she said, not unfriendly. 

Himawari took out the key and showed it to the nurse, who studied it for a few moments. “Please forgive, young lady, I didn’t know miss Sakura had given you permission to use the library. It’s a the end of the hallway on your right. You can’t miss it.”

Himawari took back the key and left for the library, slowly walking in the hallway, secretly hoping Sakura wouldn’t be in her office. She remembered Sakura mentioning that the library was her preferred workplace.

She seemed to be in luck. When she arrived in the room, no-one else was there. Himawari walked towards a computer and quickly looked up which books she would need. She activated her Byakugan and scanned the room, finding the books within seconds.

“Having trouble with poisons?” Sakura’s voice startled her and she almost dropped all of the books she was holding. She quickly turned around to face the pink-haired shinobi, desperately trying to hide her embarrassment.

“There’s nothing to be ashamed of Hima… Quite the opposite even. You’re a fast student, probably the best I’ve seen in years. I would even go as far as to say that your more talented than Sarada.” Sakura smiled reassuringly. “Beside, I wasn’t exactly a star student either when I just started my training.”

Himawari quietly listened, not knowing how to react. She loved hearing Sakura’s stories, as they encouraged her to continue her training, but she didn’t want to scare the medical nin away.

“You see, you learned the basics in merely a few days, but I struggled and struggled for weeks. Conveniently, the only thing I was good at from the very beginning, were poisons. It’s not a weakness to ask for help from someone who has done this many times before, you know. Let me help you, Hima.” Sakura put a comforting hand on her shoulder and Himawari bowed her head in embarrassment. She knew it was foolish of her to try to hide her struggles from someone who had done nothing but helped her. So Himawari sighed, put her pride aside and asked Sakura for help.

Sakura went outside the library and when she came back she was holding a glass with a brown fluid in it. Sakura put the glass on the table in front of Himawari and placed her hands on her hips.

“Euhm, what is this for?” Himawari asked, unsure of what to do.

“This is your first exercise. You see, this is coffee with milk. Similar of extracting a poison from a body, you separate the milk from the coffee. Why don’t you try it?”

Himawari placed her hand over the glass. A soft green, glowing light appeared from her hands as she applied the medical ninjutsu, trying to separate the coffee from the milk. The fluid wasn’t budging much and Himawari tried harder and harder, making a little whirlpool appear in the glass. A drip of sweat rolled of her forehead and Himawari was growing impatient. Sakura watched silently.

‘Don’t try to force it, Himawari.” She eventually said. “Medical ninjutsu is a delicate art. Forcing it will not help you one bit. It might even end up hurting your patient even more, so slow down.”

Himawari, frustrated with herself and the fact that she couldn’t do the exercise, took a couple of deep breaths. She felt her frustration leave her body and calmed down. She closed her eyes in concentration, trying to ‘feel’ the milk particles in the coffee and with a gentle hand, she separated the milk from the coffee. When she opened her eyes again, she saw that she was successful in her latest attempt, seeing the white color of the milk on top of the black color of the coffee. A big smile broke out on her face and she looked at Sakura in excitement. Sakura smiled proudly at her, happy that the young Uzumaki had finally understood the most integral part of medical ninjutsu: patience.

“Alright, Himawari, well done! On to the next phase, shall we?” Sakura took out a scroll from a drawer in her desk and opened it on the table, where she summoned a fish.

“This fish is filled with poison. The task is rather simple: extract the poison and bring the fish back to life. If there is any poison left inside the fish, you won’t be able to revive it.”

Himawari thought for a second about the best way to approach this situation. She thought back of what Sakura had taught her and Sarada that day in the forest: that fluid that could be used for poison extraction. She fished out the recipe from the book in her backpack and sprinted towards the hospital garden and kitchen, quickly finding all of the ingredients. She asked the nurse at the desk for a couple of bowls, as well as some other utensils she would need. As she rushed back into the library, she noticed Sakura was observing her with an approving look on her face and it gave Himawari the confidence to continue. She was right. Her idea was going to work. Himawari made the fluid with great care, separating in evenly in different bowls, so she wouldn’t have to worry about getting all of the poison out at once. She made two small incision in the fish’ body, before picking up the fluid and slowly letting it enter the body of the fish. She focused her chakra and felt how the fluid withdrew the poison. She repeated the process a couple more times, until the healing fluid barely contained any poison anymore. Satisfied with the results of the first stage, Himawari went on to stage two, where she would bring the fish back to life. She was so concentrated on her task that she didn’t see how Sakura’s approving smile grew wider and wider the closer Himawari got to completing the task. Bringing a dead fish to life was one of the first lesson in learning medical ninjutsu, so Himawari was confident she would be able to do it. She just needed to show some patience and make sure not to rush this process. Only a couple minutes after starting the healing process, the fish started showing signs of life again, weakly flapping with its tail. Himawari persevered and moments later the fish was very much back alive again. She barely managed to catch the fish and released it into the fountain in the library. She looked up at Sakura, who had a smile on her face just as wide as Himawari’s own smile.

“You did it, Himawari! I’m so proud of you. You immediately knew how to do it and even honed an important skill! Good job! Only one task remains… I will tell you what it is when the time comes. Be patience, Hima… You’re time will come. In the meantime, keep training and if you need me, you know where to find me, right.”

Himawari smiled and nodded, turning around to leave the hospital. Before she had the chance, Sakura stopped her: “Next time, ask Sarada to teach you how to heal yourself from the inside out, that way, you won’t have to stop a battle to heal yourself.”

Himawari waved Sakura goodbye and left for home, feeling satisfied with the progress she had made that day.

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In the following months, Himawari continued training hard, honing her skills, not only in medical ninjutsu, but on many other levels as well. Starting with medical ninjutsu had inspired her the further broaden her range of jutsu and she had asked several people to help her with training. She was truly happy with the progress she was making. She also continued her training with Sarada, who had taught her how to heal herself during battle, as well as frequently visiting the hospital to help Sakura treat patients and further hone her skill. Everyone was proud of her development.

She was meeting with Sarada early in the afternoon for another training session. Sakura had joined her daughter on several occasions, either to join in on the training, or just to watch the two girls, so she wasn’t surprised anymore when she saw that Sarada was in the presence of her mother.  
“Good afternoon, Himawari!” Sakura cheerfully said. She wasn’t wearing her regular outfit, instead wearing her mission outfit, that Himawari only recognized because she once saw Sakura leave for a mission just when she returned from her own.

“Will you be going on a mission after practice, Sakura-sama?” Himawari asked.

Sakura shook her head. “No. Sarada told me she thinks that you are ready to be acknowledged as a full-fledged medical ninja, so I am here to put that to the test. Today, you will be fighting both me and Sarada. At the same time.”

Himawari’s eyes grew wide from the surprise and she swallowed away her nerves. Fighting Sarada alone was enough of a challenge… Her being joined by her mother was downright scary. Nevertheless, Himawari took a deep breath and prepared herself for the battle, as well as Sakura and Sarada. For a moment, neither of them moved, before Himawari retreated into the trees surrounding the training field to create a distance between the three of them. She activated her Byakugan, keeping a close eye on Sakura and Sarada. Sarada had activated her Sharingan and was actively searching for Himawari. Himawari started moving, making a clone every few seconds. She had learned how to combine her clones and her Byakugan without getting an all-ending headache, so even if Sarada and Sakura managed to find her clones, they wouldn’t be able to tell that this wasn’t Himawari’s real body. Sakura smashed the ground, destroying the field and about a dozen of her clones. There were still plenty of clones left to act as a diversion. She had to figure out a way to create an opening, and she was well aware of the fact that it meant splitting up the two girls. So Himawari took the bold route, attacking them head on with one of her clones. She used her gentle fist to blow Sakura away from Sarada, before she had the chance to destroy the clone. She let all of her clones attack Sarada as well in order to keep the young Uchiha occupied while she took care of Sakura. She stayed out of Sakura’s sight until the medical nin was within the range of the eight trigrams. Himawari appeared from her hiding place and took her stance. Sakura, knowing what was about to happen, braced herself.

“I’m impressed, Himawari. Splitting us up is a good idea. I don’t have Sarada’s sensing skills, but don’t you dare underestimate me!”

Himawari charged at Sakura, but she had indeed underestimated the cherry blossom queen. Himawari was only able to hit a couple of Sakura’s chakra points, but she suspected Sakura had ‘sacrificed’ those chakra points in order to save the more important ones. Sakura was still able to use her chakra enhanced strenght. It was now Sakura’s turn to launch an attack. Himawari knew she had to wrap this fight up as soon as possible as she could feel Sarada was gaining the upper hand on her clones. Sakura barraged her with kicks and other attacks, which Himawari flawlessly dodged. Noticing how her fighting wasn’t working against the young Uzumaki, Sakura changed her tactic, inducing her fists with even more chakra, leaving a trail of chakra behind outside of her hand. Sakura threw another punch, which Himawari yet again dodge. Himawari’s cheek swell up as she was hit by Sakura’s chakra, which she didn’t even notice with her Byakugan. Sakura was ready to throw another punch like that and Himawari was forced to use her freshly learned new jutsu.

“Rasengan!”

Startled by the appearance of the Rasengan, Sakura was forced to divert her attack and dodge Himawari’s, slightly injuring herself in the process. Himawari immediately noticed the opening that was created by her using her Rasengan and charged head on at Sakura, blocking all of her chakra points in mere seconds. Before she could deliver the finishing blow to Sakura’s tenketsu, she threw up her hands in defeat, forfaiting their match. Himawari smiled at the accomplishment and left Sakura behind to finish of Sarada. This was going to be a battle at a whole other level, as Sarada was just as skilled in long-range fighting as she was in short-range fighting. Not the mention the threat of being caught in a genjutsu. But Himawari didn’t train for nothing and still had a few tricks up her sleeve Sarada didn’t know about. She purposely hid her new found talents from the Uchiha precisely for a situation just like this one. Sarada had just finished of her last clone and was charging right at her, having found out her location. But Himawari wasn’t hiding anymore. She knew exactly how to take care of the Uchiha and was looking forward towards the battle. Her chakra levels were still great as well. She barely had used up any of it and would be able to battle for hours, would that be necessary. Himawari and Sarada met each other in a little open field in the forest, one standing on one side and the other standing on the opposite side.

“Fire style: Fire ball jutsu!” Sarada launched an enormous fire ball at her, which Himawari dodged, feeling the heat of the jutsu on her skin. Recovering from the attack, Himawari ran towards Sarada, shooting of bursts of chakra from the palms of her hands, forcing Sarada in the defense. Sarada, knowing she wouldn’t win a taijutsu battle from the Uzumaki, created a distance between them. The two girls went back and forth like that the entire fight, with Himawari attacking Sarada head on and Sarada creating distance by using long-ranged jutsu. Sarada was doing exactly what Himawari wanted her to do and after several rounds of going back and forth, Sarada was starting to show signs of fatigue. Despite her exceptional chakra control, Sarada’s chakra levels were just no match for Himawari’s. So Sarada finally prepared for the final showdown, creating a Chidori. Himawari and Sarada ran towards each other. Himawari took out a kunai. If this worked, she would win. If it didn’t, she would lose. Himawari threw the kunai, which Sarada easily dodged. A smile appeared on Sarada’s face, as she thought she had won, but just as she was to deliver the final blow with her Chidori, Himawari disappeared.

Himawari appeared again behind Sarada, landing a final, devastating blow to Sarada’s tenketsu, closing it and knocking the girl unconscious before Sarada even realized what had just happened. Himawari walked over to Sarada and opened her tenketsu once again, restoring the flow of her chakra. As Himawari was healing the rest of Sarada’s wounds, Sakura walked out of the forest.

“She played you, Sarada. You did exactly what she wanted. Well done Himawari.”

Sarada sat quietly as Himawari healed her, saddened by her loss. “When did you learn that jutsu?” Sarada asked.

“I started learning it about a month after I started training with you. I was seeing the benefits from our training and you really motivated me to become stronger. I wanted to be more than ‘just’ a taijutsu-user. It’s still a work in progress, but I’m happy with how far I’ve come since last year. So thank you, Sarada. You too Sakura-sama.”

The three of them enjoyed a moment of silence as Himawari opened up Sakura’s chakra points again and healed everyone’s wounds.

“Your progress is amazing, Himawari. You should be very proud of yourself. Even tough Sarada and I might have motivated you, all of the work came from you. So give yourself some credit as well. You truly have become not only a full-fledged medical ninja, but also a much more whole shinobi in general.”

“So… Does that mean I have past my final test?” Himawari asked.

“Oh no. You’re final test still has to come. This was just to see if you would be prepared to pass the final test. The answer to that question is yes, if you wondered.”  
Sakura helped Sarada get up again. Himawari didn’t know how to act around the Uchiha. She wanted to congratulate Sarada on the fight, as Himawari was forced to use her new jutsu, which she hasn’t even fully mastered yet, but she didn’t want to come over as insensitive either.

“Congratulations, Himawari. You played me and you played me good. I walked right into your plan. You deserved to win.” Sarada extended her hand, inviting Himawari to shake it. Himawari gladly took it. “Thank you so much Sarada. You’ve learned me so much of the past year and words cannot describe how grateful I am for that. And really, you’re giving me way too much credit. You forced me to use a jutsu I haven’t even fully mastered yet in order to win and it only worked because you weren’t aware that I was able use that jutsu.” A smile appeared back on Sarada’s face, encouraged by the kind words from the young Uzumaki. The two girls had reached an understanding and saw each other as equals. “Dumplings?” Sarada asked. “Dumplings!” was Himawari’s reply. Himawari hooked her arms inside both Sakura’s and Sarada’s arms and pulled them with her. The sun was starting to set as the three women walked arm in arm back towards the village.

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Himawari walked into her father’s office. She had been summoned by the Hokage for a mission. Himawari was surprised to see that Sakura was present as well. Himawari took position next to Sakura and patiently waited for her father to start talking.

“Himawari, you must wonder why you are here, right?” Her father didn’t leave her any time to answer his assumption before continuing. “The feudal lord of the Land of Tea has been poisoned with an unknown poison. Your mission is to find an antidote for the poison and capture the person or people responsible for this crime.”

“Will Sakura-sama join me on this mission?” Himawari asked.

“No. This was normally a mission for Sakura-chan, but she informed me that she can’t go due to a situation in the hospital. She requested for you to take over the mission. You’ll be leaving on your own. However, I will send Shikadai and Inojin as a back-up as soon as they return from their previous mission, which should be in one or two days at most. You must leave as soon as possible. The healers in the land of Tea are doing their best to keep the feudal Lord alive, but they need a skilled medical ninja to take care of this.”

“Yes, Lord Seventh, I will pack my bag and leave at once.”

“Thank you, Himawari.”

Himawari turned around and walked towards the door, quickly followed by Sakura.

“Let me walk you home, Himawari” She said softly.

“That’s not-“ Himawari started to reply, but Sakura interrupted her with a persistent look and an I insist, so Himawari allowed her to join.

“You’re going to nail this mission, Himawari, I have upmost fate in you.”

“I’m not so sure… Just a few weeks ago I was struggling with this exact thing… And now… Now I actually have to do it with someone life on the line. And not just someone… A Feudal Lord!” Himawari sighed. She was feeling slightly panicked.

“I understand how you feel… I felt like that too. Most of the thing I learned, I had only read about in a book. Or I had only performed it on synthetic organs or something. But I promise, once you’re there, once you are put in that position of alive or dead, it will click. It clicked for me and for Sarada as well. It will click for you too. Be confident, Himawari. You are your own worst enemy. Besides, this mission was made for you. You’re much more of a fighter than I am. You will cure the Feudal Lord and find the perpetrator and you should not feel satisfied by anything less. Shannaroo!” Sakura’s confidence boosted her own and she felt much more sure about her ability to bring this mission to a successful end. Sakura helped her pack her bag and walked her to the village gate, where she waved Himawari off. Himawari sprinted towards the Land of Tea. It was the neighboring land, so she would arrive in the afternoon. With her gaze fixed on success, Himawari made her way into her first mission as a medical ninja.

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She did indeed arrive in the afternoon and she could feel the relieve coming from the healers of the Land of Tea. She went into the Feudal Lords room and was surprised to see that the Feudal Lord was a girl, barely older than herself. She quickly composed herself, pushing her surprise aside to focus on the girl who obviously needed her help.

“How long ago was she poisoned?” Himawari asked, while checking the Feudal Lord’s temperature. She was burning up.

“About two days ago… We tried everything.” The head healer answered.

“Did you extract the poison from her system?”

“Was that necessary than?”

Himawari sighed. These people were clueless. When you didn’t know what poison you’re dealing with, you extract it in order to examine it and find an antidote. Himawari handed over the list of ingredients for the poison-extraction-fluid.

“Can you get me everything on this list? As soon as possible?” Himawari asked, trying to get the Feudal Lords temperature down. The servant who accepted the list quickly made her way out of the room, searching for all the ingredients.

“In the meantime, could you tell me exactly what happened to the Lord?” Himawari directly asked the question to the guard standing by the door, who had been keeping a close eye on her ever since she had entered the room. He seemed surprised by Himawari’s direct approach.

“We were on our way to a neighboring village in order to sign a document that would confirm an alliance. This alliance would bring an end to a century-old feud between our two lands. We were ambushed by a group of four ninja. I think they were hired by someone, but I don’t know by who. The people here seem the think it was the neighboring land.”

“But you disagree, don’t you? Mister…”

“Takeuchi. But yes, I don’t think it was our neighbor. Their Feudal Lord seemed very fixated on this alliance and I think she was genuinely looking forward to ending this feud and starting a friendly relationship with our country.”

Before Himawari could react to this revelation, the servant returned, carrying all the utensils and ingredients she would need. Himawari immediately started working on the fluid, carefully preparing multiple doses and making sure she made no mistake. When she was done, Himawari made two small incisions in the Feudal Lords stomach and carefully drained out the poison from the young girl’s body.

Himawari let out a sigh of relief. The most difficult part was over. All she had to do next was make the common antidote and add healing flowers and plants until she had found the right combination. After that, it would be time for her to take down those four mystery shinobi and found out who ordered the hit on the Feudal Lord.

“Is their a lab somewhere around here that I could use? And how about a garden with medicinal herbs and flowers?”

Takeuchi nodded and signaled for her to follow him. He quickly lead her through the palace, eventually reaching a small lab, looking over an immense garden.

“Will this do, miss Himawari?” Takeuchi asked her.

She nodded. She would find everything she need and even more in this place. Himawari took out her testing scrolls and immediately started working.

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Himawari was tensely looking at the Feudal Lord as her freshly created antidote was administrated. According to all the tests she did, this antidote should work, but a part of her was still afraid she somehow had made a mistake, causing the antidote to fail.

Slowly, the Feudal Lord started regaining consciousness again, weakly asking for a bit of water. Takeuchi gently helped her sit up and take a few sips of water.

“Takeuchi, be careful not to give her too much at once. She is still very weak and she has IV-fluids to make up for the fact that she cannot drink much water right now.” 

The Feudal Lord looked at Himawari, confused by the sight of a leaf-ninja in her village. She had vowed to learn how to survive with her own strength instead of using the strength from the hidden villages.

“Who are you?” the Feudal Lords voice sounded cracked, but she sat proudly in her bed, her brown gaze strong for someone who just a day ago was still on the brink of dying.

“My name is Himawari Uzumaki and I am a shinobi from the Leaf. Your advisers requested our help in searching for an antidote as you were dealing with an unknown poison.” Himawari bowed her head, hoping that the Feudal Lord would forgive her advisers from ignoring her will in order to safe her.

To Himawari’s relief, the Feudal Lord relaxed, leaning back in her bed. “I suppose you can go now, considering I’m cured.”

“I’m sorry, but I cannot leave yet. I was also asked to find the culprit and make sure he or she is brought to justice.”

“And how exactly do you plan on doing that?”

“I will spread the news about your recovery. Chances are that the ninja who attacked you will return to finish the job, after which I will take them out and interrogate them, making sure that you are fully aware of the identity of the one who ordered this before I leave.”

Takeuchi was ready to object, realizing the dangers behind this plan, but the Feudal Lord stopped him in his tracks. Himawari understood his concern, as she didn’t know anything about the skill level of these ninja, but she had confidence in her own abilities. After all, these ninja didn’t know anything about her abilities either. “Let’s do that, Himawari Uzumaki” the Feudal Lord said, sealing the deal.

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Himawari was patiently waiting for the arrival of the enemy ninja, having taken the place of the Feudal Lord, who had been moved to another room in secret. She scanned the area with her Byakugan every few minutes, but was yet to pick up any foreign chakra. 

About half an hour later, she sensed their arrival. She grabbed one of her kunai and prepared herself for their entrance. Their chakra levels suggested that they weren’t top class ninja, but she knew better than to underestimate her opponents. 

“Hachirou, don’t you think it’s a bit weird no-one is standing guard.

Dammit! Himawari hadn’t thought about that. Takeuchi was still with the Feudal Lord and the other guards were positioned elsewhere in the palace, ready to intercept the ninja if they tried to escape.

“Don’t worry Daiki, all of the guards have been spread around the palace. There is one literally one hallway away from here. Beside you know how stubborn this girl can be. She wouldn’t even be in this situation if it wasn’t for her refusing to follow our Master.” Himawari assumed this was Hachirou answering, making the first man to speak Daiki. Not that it mattered. They would all be captured by the end of the night.

Hachirou approached the bed, holding up a poisoned knife to finish her off. She knew it would be another poison that the one she had dealt with previously, so she was determined to avoid getting hit. She sent a silent thank you to Sarada for jamming it into her that being able to dodge all attacks was your most important skill as a medical ninja.  
“Gentle fist!” Himawari knocked him away with a strong gust of chakra right before Hachiro was able to deliver the finishing blow. One of his two unnamed companions turned on the light and was desperately searching for her.

“Up here!” The ninja looked up with fear in his face, but before either he or one of his teammates could react, Himawari had blocked all of his chakra points. The other unnamed ninja charged at her as she knocked the first unconscious with her gentle fist. The second ninja got within her range.

“Eight Trigrams: 64 palms!” She quickly blocked all of his chakra points, leaving him useless and barely conscious. She now only had to take care of Hachiro and Daiki, who had recovered from the initial shock of her arrival and were preparing for battle. Soon, Himawari was barraged with several water pistol jutsu from Daiki. She dodged them with ease, but realized she was moving closer and closer to Hachiro, who had summoned several weapons with poison dripping off them. He launched them at her, but Himawari quickly noticed Hachiro was controlling them with his chakra. The two jutsu were closing in on her and Himawari felt she was being cornered.

“Eight Trigrams: rotation!” Her rotation came just in time, dispelling both the knifes and the water pistol jutsu. Himawari held on closer to her kunai. She didn’t want to use that jutsu here, as space was limited, but she might be forced to in order to dodge their attacks. She threw her kunai. Daiki and Hachiro, not noticing the knifes were never meant to hit them, easily dodged them. Hachiro sent another round of poisonous knifes after her and Himawari teleported herself into safety. Too late she realized Daiki didn’t join the previous attack.

“Water prison jutsu!” A bowl of water was quickly forming around Himawari. She wanted to teleport to the kunai she had thrown to Daiki, when she saw him holding her kunai, breaking the seal on the handle.

“Pretty impressive jutsu, little girl, but this fight is over.”

Himawari closed her eyes. This was it. She was done.

She thought back of her training with Sarada and Sakura. About the hardships she had overcome. She was not about to die here in a bubble of water, losing to two rogue ninja in a land that wasn’t her own. No. Himawari was going to fight. She looked for an opening and realized that Daiki was using his own hand to keep the water prison jutsu in place. But Daiki and Hachiro were preparing for their own final attack as well. She would have to be fast. She started building up the chakra in her palms, knowing that if she let out a strong enough burst of chakra, the jutsu would be broken.

Before anyone was able to do something, Daiki and Hachiro were stopped in the middle of their movements. Daiki let go of the water prison jutsu and Himawari fell to the ground.

“Shadow possession jutsu, complete” Shikadai said with a smug look on his face.

“Mind distraction jutsu, complete” Inojin added.

Himawari quickly blocked their tenketsus, ensuring they would be out for the rest of the day.

“Lucky that we showed up when we did. They had you good.” Inojin said.

“Oh please, I had just come up with a plan to escape. As if I would be defeated this easily.”

“Well it wouldn’t have been an ‘easy’ defeat considering you took out two of them on your own. A four-on-one battle is challenging for everyone and I must say, their teamwork was good.” Shikadai pitched in. “Now we wait until they wake up.”

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Finding out who had hired them was surprisingly easy. Thanks to her medical knowledge and her overall knowledge of the chakra system, Himawari knew which points in the body were painful without being dangerous. On top of Inojin’s mind powers, finding out their master was a quick job. It took only 30 minutes before the four of them broke down and told them who it was.  
It turned out the culprit was one of the Feudal Lords advisors, who had a personal vendetta against one of the family’s in the neighboring land and wasn’t prepared to put it aside for the sake of his country. Instead, he thought it would be a better idea to start a new war between the two countries, as that would satisfy his bloodlust, completely disregarding the needs of his people.  
The Feudal Lord had showed him mercy, and instead of sentencing him to death, which would have happened in the era of her father, she had sentenced him to life in jail with community service instead.  
All and all, Himawari was glad the mission went the way it did. She had learned a great deal about herself and was feeling much more confident in her abilities. From now on, no more doubts about herself. It was time Himawari Uzumaki would start to see the progress she had made over the past year. And with that final, hopeful thought, Himawari returned to the village alongside Shikadai and Inojin, a changed girl.

-The end-

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading my storing. I really hope you liked it. (also I don't own any of these characters)


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